Besides the fact that we are talking about a fundamental right, the payback time alone seems an economic no-brainer. But the need for investment in Europe’s housing does not stop there. To meet the energy saving goals in buildings an additional 1.3 trillion Euro is required.

And it’s not just the quality that is lagging. In many parts of Europe there is a lack of sufficient affordable options too. Younger generations have fewer prospects of finding an affordable home – staying thus longer with their parents. European cities are witnessing growing homelessness. Mobility, immigration and demography add pressure to existing shortages. On top of this, housing markets are driven by deregulation in finance and housing that, in theory, should convert higher prices into more supply, not into unsustainable debts and housing costs.

The challenge is to come up with strategies that reduce risks, improve stability and generate more affordable housing for all. This can be achieved by putting the financial resources at the service of more productive long-term investment in social and affordable housing. This will also contribute to meeting pressing societal challenges in areas such as sustainability and social cohesion.

These mechanisms are crucial. The Netherlands has a mutual solidarity system and public guarantees for housing associations. Austria for instance, makes use of special "House building banks". Also, Switzerland and Belgium set up dedicated financing instruments and entities for social housing providers. One may often observe combinations of financial instruments: savings (the case of Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) in France), bonds, bank loans, grants, guarantees (Dutch social housing guarantee fund WSW), tax incentives, etc.

We also notice an increasing interest of European banks to finance social and affordable housing (EIB, EBRD, CEB). Besides loans of the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Council of Europe Development Bank the guarantee fund EFSI helped realize investments in social and affordable housing in France, UK and Germany for almost 2,5 billion euro.

Still, many European countries have quite a few steps to take to be able to absorb sufficient funding and finance and convert it efficiently into social or affordable housing. A number of basic conditions must be met first:

the existence of social housing providers that are seen as good risks with a secure and predictable revenue stream;

financial institutions should understand the tasks and the financial circumstances of social housing providers and

regulatory underpinning and possibly the underwriting of loans by government.

We could add two more elements:

independent and effective regulatory bodies and

regular and individual reporting from providers and sectorial publications that show the financial situation and social and economic contributions.

Europe will benefit from the further development of such institutions and housing organizations. However, efforts to provide more and better affordable housing will remain vain if the existing stock continues to be privatized or liberalized. Financial resources attracted by such speculative investments should be better diverted towards responsible housing investment that benefits society as a whole in the long run.

"Finance, suitably configured for the future, can be the strongest force for promoting the well-being and fulfilment of an expanding global population- for achieving the greater goals of the good society.”

* Head of European Affairs for Aedes, Dutch Federation of Social Housing Providers